Definitions for Principalˈprɪn sə pəl

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word Principal.

Princeton's WordNet(4.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

principal(noun)

the original amount of a debt on which interest is calculated

principal, school principal, head teacher, head(noun)

the educator who has executive authority for a school

"she sent unruly pupils to see the principal"

star, principal, lead(noun)

an actor who plays a principal role

principal, corpus, principal sum(noun)

capital as contrasted with the income derived from it

principal(noun)

(criminal law) any person involved in a criminal offense, regardless of whether the person profits from such involvement

principal, dealer(adj)

the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

chief(a), main(a), primary(a), principal(a), master(a)(adj)

most important element

"the chief aim of living"; "the main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were primary targets"; "the master bedroom"; "a master switch"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

principal(Noun)

The money originally invested or loaned, on which basis interest and returns are calculated.

A portion of your mortgage payment goes to reduce the principal, and the rest covers interest.

principal(Noun)

The chief administrator of a school.

principal(Noun)

The chief executive and chief academic officer of a university or college.

principal(Noun)

One who directs another (the agent) to act on oneu2032s behalf.

When an attorney represents a client, the client is the principal who permits the attorney, the clientu2032s agent, to act on the clientu2032s behalf.

principal(Noun)

The primary participant in a crime.

principal(Noun)

A company represented by a salesperson.

My principal sells metal shims.

principal(Noun)

A partner or owner of a business.

principal(Noun)

A diapason, a type of organ stop on a pipe organ.

principal(Adjective)

Primary; most important.

Origin: From principalis.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Principal(adj)

highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case

Principal(adj)

of or pertaining to a prince; princely

Principal(noun)

a leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; -- distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant

Principal(noun)

the chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, -- as distinguished from an accessory

Principal(noun)

a chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, -- as distinguished from a surety

Principal(noun)

one who employs another to act for him, -- as distinguished from an agent

Principal(noun)

a thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous

Principal(noun)

a capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; -- so called in distinction from interest or profit

Principal(noun)

the construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, -- generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing

Principal(noun)

in English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason

Principal(noun)

a heirloom; a mortuary

Principal(noun)

the first two long feathers of a hawk's wing

Principal(noun)

one of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned

Principal(noun)

a principal or essential point or rule; a principle

Origin: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Principal

A principal in computer security is an entity that can be authenticated by a computer system or network. It is referred to as a security principal in Java and Microsoft literature.
Principals can be individual people, computers, services, computational entities such as processes and threads, or any group of such things. They need to be identified and authenticated before they can be assigned rights and privileges over resources in the network. A principal typically has an associated identifier that allows it to be referenced for identification or assignment of properties and permissions.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Principal

prin′si-pal, adj. taking the first place: highest in rank, character, or importance: chief.—n. a principal person or thing: a head, as of a school or college: one who takes a leading part: money on which interest is paid: (archit.) a main beam or timber: (law) the person who commits a crime, or one who aids and abets him in doing it: a person for whom another becomes surety, a person who, being sui juris, employs another to do an act which he is competent himself to do: (mus.) an organ-stop: (Shak.) the principal rafter.—n.Principal′ity, supreme power: the territory of a prince or the country which gives title to him: (B.) a prince: (obs.) a power: (pl.) an order of angels, the seventh in the hierarchy of Dionysius.—adv.Prin′cipally.—ns.Prin′cipalness, the state of being principal or chief; Prin′cipalship, position of a principal; Prin′cipate, primary: a principality, esp. the office of the ancient Roman emperors. [L. principalis.]